How Does Qinwen Zheng Rediscover 2024 Form?

On a gloomy Madrid court, Qinwen Zheng looked a shadow of herself against Anastasia Potatpova. A 6-4 6-4 loss sent the World #8 home early; a somewhat familiar story in 2025. After a 2024 that included the highs of a Tokyo title, a Grand Slam final plus an Olympic Gold Medal, many expected Zheng to hit the ground running in 2025. Ultimately, that hasn’t been the case.

Qinwen Zheng Fails To Deliver In Madrid

A Spectacular 2024

By the start of 2024, Zheng was making a name for herself as a reliable hard-court player. The previous season she reached the US Open quarter final plus won the Zhengzhou Open. However, few expected her to reach the Australian Open final. Admittedly, she never face a seeded player en route and was barely competitive in the final against Aryna Sabalenka. Yet, the old saying rings true, you can only beat who are placed in front of you. While she never defeated highly ranked players, she defeated those who beat them.

Overall, 2024 was a year of moments for Zheng. Despite her amazing highs, there was still a lack of consistency. On Tour, she exited early in Qatar, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuggart, Berlin, and Madrid. On the Grand Slam stage, she made the third round of Roland Garros and lost in the opening round of Wimbledon.

Yet, after Wimbledon, she made her name. At the Olympics, she completed one of the seemingly impossible sporting tasks: beating Iga Swiatek on Court Philippe Chatrier. With just Donna Vekic awaiting in the final, she bulldozed past her 6-3 6-2 to become the first Chinese singles player to win a Gold Medal.

Unlike her run in Melbourne, she built on this. She made the quarterfinal in New York, where she was yet again handily beaten by Sabalenka. Afterward, she reached the semi final in China, before losing in the Wuhan final to… You guessed it: Sabalenka. However, it was a three-set thriller, with genuine competitivity and jeopardy. A step forward.

A Tokyo title plus a run to the final of the WTA Finals were soon to come, all wrapping up an excellent end to the season.

An Underwhelming 2025

Yet, the off-season break really seemed to halt her momentum. In one of the shocks of the season, she bowed out to Laura Seigemund in the Australian Open second round. The German, a notoriously tough customer who plays all the tricky shots, proved too tricky for the fifth seed.

Early exits in Qatar, Dubai, and Madrid have followed. While quarterfinal runs in Indian Wells, Miami, and Charleston have steadied the ship, she has failed to reach the heights of the back end of 2024.

Of course, this season has been far from a disaster, more so, it has been underwhelming. After an end to 2024 that promised so much, she sits #31 in the race this year.

Game Style

Players like Zheng are nothing new though. Her aggressive game style often comes with fluctuations in form. Four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz is a great example of just that.

Of the big hitters on the WTA Tour, only Sabalenka has shown sustained periods of success. Madison Keys is now a Grand Slam champion but has failed to make a final since her Australian Open exploits. Elena Ryabkina’s situation continues to confuse, while Jelena Ostapenko proves an unknown quantity every time she takes to the court. The rest of the Top 10, such as Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Jasmine Paolini, are about consistency and movement.

Yet, Zheng’s serve has often let her down this season. In her run to the WTA Finals final, Zheng’s first serve points won ratio stood at 80%, 76%, 82% and 77%. For context, this was against the four of the highest performing players. Yet in her loss to Potapova, respectfully an opponent of lower quality, she won just 55% of first serve points. Moreover, she made just 43% of her first serves. It was always going to be a tough battle.

Admittedly, she has been nursing an elbow injury. Although, she explained after the match, that it had very little impact,

“Losing the match wasn’t due to just one reason — there were many. There were a lot of areas where I didn’t perform well. I don’t think it had anything to do with my injury; it’s no longer affecting me. Right now, I can play normally. Although the injury did have a slight impact at the very beginning, once the match started, I was able to put it out of my mind.”

Increased Pressure at a Young Age

We often forget these players are just humans, like the rest of us, who happen to be exceptionally talented and driven in a specific sporting field. Yet, the pressure that Zheng must have, as the best tennis player in China, is unthinkable. Thanks to her incredible feats, she will have increased media duties and sponsorships. In a period where she is expected to advance on the court, more will be getting asked of her off-court. Furthermore, it’s easy to forget, she is still just 22.

Dealing with this pressure has led to some introspection and mindset changes from the Chinese #1. She revealed how living in Spain has changed her mindset regarding work-life balance and overall enjoyment.

“How is it possible that the Spanish are so good at sport and they enjoy life so much? For example, Carlos Alcaraz won a Grand Slam and went on holiday to Ibiza. I’m starting to understand that if you want to be good at tennis, you also need to learn to enjoy life. That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned from life in Spain. Also, that mentality to fight in sport.”

Future Steps

So, what lies next for Qinwen Zheng? What would a successful season entail? Ultimately, increased consistency has to be top of the books. That may be a tough mindset shift from someone who has experienced the glory of a Gold Medal. Yet, she is still growing as a player on tour, and the more experiences she can have at the latter end of tournaments, the better. She has shown that her peak level will lead her to finals and titles, however, the mark of a top operator is their base level.

Improve that and she could become a real threat all year round.